Where does “ID card” come from?
ID card (English) comes from English card, from Middle English carde, from Old French carte, from Latin charta, from French cartel, from Italian cartello, from Italian carta, from Latin carta — to yearn for; to enclose; bowels, intestines.
Ancestry of “ID card”, step by step
ID card traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English card
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | card | A playing card; Any game using playing cards; a... |
| 2 | Middle English | carde | playing card |
| 3 | Old French | carte | Alternative form of chartre |
| 4 | Latin | charta | papyrus, paper; poem, a writing; map |
| 5 | French | cartel | a cartel |
| 6 | Italian | cartello | sign, notice, placard, signboard; signpost, road... |
| 7 | Italian | carta | paper; map; menu |
| 8 | Latin | carta | papyrus; letter etc |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | χάρτης | sheet of paper, paper; book |
| 10 | Ancient Greek | χαράσσω | to sharpen; to engrave, carve, write, draw, stamp |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰer- | to yearn for; to enclose; bowels, intestines |
via English ID
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | ID | Initialism of identification or identity... |
| 2 | Hindi | ईद | Eid |
| 3 | Persian | عید | feast, feast day; celebration; holiday |
| 4 | Arabic | عِيد | holiday, carnival; feast, festival; holiday,... |
| 5 | Arabic | محمد | commendable, laudable, praised, praiseworthy;... |
| 6 | Arabic | حَمَّدَ | to praise, commend, laud; to praise, commend,... |
| 7 | Arabic | م | a prefix used to create nouns of place; a prefix... |
| 8 | Proto-Semitic | šamaʿ- | — |